Today in Foundations we talked about culture. I think the idea of culture is something that is often times lost in translation. People think of culture and automatically think of ethnicity or where you are from, when culture embodies much more than that.
Culture is more about tradition, which is where I think it gets confused with being where you are from. The best personal example I have for culture is my grandma. My grandma was born and raised in Thailand and was raised as a Buddhist. She met my grandfather after the Vietnam war when she as 18 and moved to the US with him. When she got here, she was exposed to Christianity and she converted her faith.
However, even though she didn't practice Buddhism as a part of her daily routine, the traditional aspects still carried over into her life. When I was little, my grandma always got on to me for touching her on her head (I was little, climbed all over her, played with her hair, etc.). I didn't understand why this was such a big deal to her until I got older and realized that Buddhist believed that their heads, since it was closest to the sky, was considered the most heavenly part of your body and it was disrespectful to touch someone else's head.
Learning about others culture and the traditions that have guided their lives is something that is very interesting to me. I'm so thankful that I have chosen a career that considers culture, values, beliefs, and the traditions that make up the person that I am going to be caring for.
Culture is more about tradition, which is where I think it gets confused with being where you are from. The best personal example I have for culture is my grandma. My grandma was born and raised in Thailand and was raised as a Buddhist. She met my grandfather after the Vietnam war when she as 18 and moved to the US with him. When she got here, she was exposed to Christianity and she converted her faith.
However, even though she didn't practice Buddhism as a part of her daily routine, the traditional aspects still carried over into her life. When I was little, my grandma always got on to me for touching her on her head (I was little, climbed all over her, played with her hair, etc.). I didn't understand why this was such a big deal to her until I got older and realized that Buddhist believed that their heads, since it was closest to the sky, was considered the most heavenly part of your body and it was disrespectful to touch someone else's head.
Learning about others culture and the traditions that have guided their lives is something that is very interesting to me. I'm so thankful that I have chosen a career that considers culture, values, beliefs, and the traditions that make up the person that I am going to be caring for.
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